Prime Minister Keir Starmer will address the nation at 5pm today amid growing concerns about European security and Russian aggression.
It comes after the Prime Minister told MPs spending on defence will rise from its current 2.3 per cent share of the economy to 2.5 per cent in 2027.
The Labour leader acknowledged the decision required “extremely difficult and painful choices”.
The Prime Minister’s address comes amid mounting tensions with Russia and uncertainty over America’s future commitment to European security.
Keir Starmer will address the nation today at 5pm in response to “tyrant” Vladimir Putin and amid uncertainty over the US’s commitment to European security
Getty
Starmer has described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “tyrant” who “only responds to strength”.
In his Commons statement earlier today, Starmer announced “the biggest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War”.
But added that it relies on slashing development assistance aid.
The plan will see defence spending reach 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027, earlier than previously planned.
“Let me spell it out, that means spending £13.4 billion more on defence every year from 2027,” the Prime Minister told MPs.
He told the Commons: “We must find courage in our history, courage in who we are as a nation, because courage is what our own era now demands of us”.
Starmer added that working people have already felt the economic impact of Russian actions through rising prices and bills.
“We should not pretend that any of this has been easy. Working people have already felt the cost of Russian actions through rising prices and bills,” Starmer said.
“Nonetheless, one of the great lessons of our history is that instability in Europe will always wash up on our shores, and that tyrants like Putin only respond to strength.
“Russia is a menace in our waters, in our airspace and on our streets. They have launched cyber attacks on our NHS, only seven years ago a chemical weapons attack on the streets of Salisbury.
“We must stand by Ukraine, because if we do not achieve a lasting peace, then the economic instability are threats to our security, they will only grow.
“And so as the nature of that conflict changes, as it has in recent weeks, it brings our response into sharper focus, a new era that we must meet as we have so often in the past, together, and with strength.”